(Jan. 12, 2005) - Lady Bucs forward Tiffani Mayes (Sumter, S.C.) is moving up the national scoring charts, and she's doing it at a rapid pace.In the Jan. 3 poll, Mayes ranked 22ndwith 19.5 points per game, however with her 31.0 points per game average against Davidson and Western Carolina last week, Mayes has jumped 16 positions and currently ranks sixth in the nation with 21.2 points per game.

The only Southern Conference women's basketball player to be ranked nationally in scoring in 2004-05, Mayes was named the SoCon player of the month for the month of December, and most recently named the SoCon Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 11.Along with her team and SoCon lead in the points per game category, Mayes currently ranks atop the rankings in rebounds per game (8.1) and near the top in field goal percentage (.525), blocks (13), as well as minutes per game averaging 32.5 per contest.

Mayes is aware of where she stands in the national polls, however she also has a bigger goal in sight for 2004-05, "When I step onto the court how I rank in the nation is the last thing on my mind.My job as a teammate is to help my team win and make it to the NCAA tournament," Mayes said.

ETSU will be back in action this Saturday, Jan. 15, when they make the short trip to face the Appalachian State Mountaineers.Game time is set for 1:00 p.m. with pre-game and play-by-play analysis on the Mountain States Health Alliance Buccaneer Sports Network beginning at 12:00 p.m.